Bela Bartok

Pencil, watercolor, and correction fluid

Peter made many portraits of historical figures. He would often take a familiar image of the person involved as his point of departure, adapting it to his own graphic idiom. Here he has made use of a well-known photograph of the famous Hungarian composer, brilliantly translating it into watercolor by rendering the play of light over the face and producing an image of extraordinary intensity. Impressive enough in itself, this watercolor was translated, in turn, into a photocopy print.